That's my line of thinking, I need to get the WTG passes down pat first. I am finding that I can get just shy of BBS with just XTG passes with my DE on my clean-up passes. If that is the case with the DE, I should be good with the straight to get close enough with just WTG and the eventual XTG passes once I get to that point. If I try for dolphin smooth skin with my DE, I hardly have anything to shave the next day, and I need to shave daily to advance my straight razor improvement more rapidly. I've wasted 56 years of my life not using a straight, gotta make up for lost time.
Relearning with a straight
- Thread starter HeavyD
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- #22
LOL! I’m in the same boat rowing with you at 50!
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- #23
I couldn’t help myself and grabbed an old Grelot I stumbled across. It had a few small chips in the blade, but it cleaned up, and honed up real nice. It looks and sounds like an extra hollow ground, so it is a big switch from the heavier grinds I’ve using. After a couple shaves, it is giving me close comfortable shaves better than I could get with the cartridge razor. Still just 2 passes WTG. Not sure why the extra hollow gives me closer shaves but sticking with it for now. Don’t worry, I’ll get back to the wedges and half hollows!
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Nice razor, @HeavyD!
I find hollows and extra hollows give me more audio feedback during the shave. As I started with hollow ground razors, they are my baseline. It is different, in my opinion, when using near wedges and quarter/half hollows but the results are the same.
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- #26
For a long time I also felt like I got better shaves off full hollows and extra hollows than I did from heavier grinds. This doesn't really seem to be the case any more, though. I'm not exactly sure why, but I suspect that a more flexible grind is more forgiving of different shaving angles, and especially of pressure. Heavy grinds reward a light touch.
It could be psychological where you hear the full or extra hollows going through the hair. You know the beard is being reduced. The heavier grinds don't have the same audio. As you said, they reward a light touch.
Nice score.
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- #30
Thanks for sharing. that makes a lot of sense! For the time being, I’m going to take the small win and stick with it for a while. Once I’m sure I’ve got my act together, I’ll start playing with my other “toys” again.
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- #31
I may have made Another discovery that could help my fellow newbies. I find I am far more critical of my shave now that I’m learning with a straight razor. I’m scrutinizing every little area after the fact. I can tell you I never bothered doing that with the old razor. Whatever it was when I finished, it was good enough and I was off.
I suspect I’m doing almost as good of a job, maybe even better than with the old razor. Do I still have room for improvement? Very much so. I think it would be an interesting experiment to just use the old razor once and scrutinize the same way I do now. The problem being, I don’t want to give up a day of practice.
I suspect I’m doing almost as good of a job, maybe even better than with the old razor. Do I still have room for improvement? Very much so. I think it would be an interesting experiment to just use the old razor once and scrutinize the same way I do now. The problem being, I don’t want to give up a day of practice.
I used to spend less than 10 minutes shaving with a cartridge at 5:30 AM. I was definitely less critical than I am now. There is something to be said for not being super critical and just enjoying the act of shaving.
At day 21, I am far away from the speed and to a lesser extent the closeness of my DE shaves. I have developed enough skills to get an acceptable shave with just the straight. I was using both up till two days ago. Now it’s all straight. And I do notice the areas that need more attention and address that need the next shave. A large part of where I need to improve is me figuring out how to do the particular passes with the straight. Hand placement and stretching. But I’ll get there. I didn’t think I’d drop the DE so fast.
My straight shaves take roughly twice as long as my DE shaves take. But if I compare the straight shaves to the first DE shaves, then the difference is less. It takes about 35 minutes for a straight shave. DE can be done in 15-20. But we I was a newbie at DE shaving, it took about 30 minutes. I see it as time well spent. And a zen type moment if you will. All distractions of the world fade away when you raise the straight to your face and touch the blade to your skin. You’re totally in the moment of the shave. Outside worries are silenced. It’s very enjoyable.
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- #34
I’m in the same boat. It does take longer, but is enjoyable as opposed to a chore. I don’t think I could add anything to how you described the experience.
I honestly don’t know how long it takes me as I’ve never checked. I’ll have to add that to the list of things to look into. I know it takes a while because I will have to relather occasionally. I guess if I had to lay out my priorities they’d be enjoyment, comfort, closeness, and lastly time. That is today. It may change with time.
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- #35
Okay, I ran the experiment last night. I am being overly critical. I used the old cartridge razor and the exact same trouble spots were still trouble spots. Overall, the my skill level with the straight is slightly better than the old cartridge. yes, I do expect to get better with more practice but it is nice to know that I have exceeded what the old razor could do.
Aloha,
I'm kind of in the same boat. I retired 1.5 years ago and stopped shaving altogether. I would just use an electric trimmer to clean it up a bit. Finally decided that I needed to get back into the groove. So this month I went back to using a DE. I was too scared to grab my straight razor again. But, after reading this post it's given me the courage to pick it up again tomorrow. It's only been 1.5 years so I think it should be easier to start up again. Hopefully everything goes well.
Happy Holidays!!!
I'm kind of in the same boat. I retired 1.5 years ago and stopped shaving altogether. I would just use an electric trimmer to clean it up a bit. Finally decided that I needed to get back into the groove. So this month I went back to using a DE. I was too scared to grab my straight razor again. But, after reading this post it's given me the courage to pick it up again tomorrow. It's only been 1.5 years so I think it should be easier to start up again. Hopefully everything goes well.
Happy Holidays!!!
Good luck, let's hope it is like riding a bicycle, you never forget once you learn.
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- #38
@serikloo,
Best of luck! I’m glad my story provided some encouragement. I’m learning and relearning a great deal every day.
Just yesterday I made a discovery. Some shaves were smooth as butter and some were not. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Then on a whim I used 2x as much shave cream to build a lather. It didn’t look any different but it didn’t try to dry out on me and it was a buttery shave. Turns out I must’ve been getting stingy with the amount of shave cream over time for no apparent reason!
Confession: there are some days when the shakes are present and I really shouldn’t pull out the straight but I’m stubborn. I do tend to get a few weepers on those days, but I don’t mind. there’s no pain or discomfort, just a little hit with the alum block and they’re good.
Best of luck! I’m glad my story provided some encouragement. I’m learning and relearning a great deal every day.
Just yesterday I made a discovery. Some shaves were smooth as butter and some were not. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Then on a whim I used 2x as much shave cream to build a lather. It didn’t look any different but it didn’t try to dry out on me and it was a buttery shave. Turns out I must’ve been getting stingy with the amount of shave cream over time for no apparent reason!
Confession: there are some days when the shakes are present and I really shouldn’t pull out the straight but I’m stubborn. I do tend to get a few weepers on those days, but I don’t mind. there’s no pain or discomfort, just a little hit with the alum block and they’re good.
Man I wish I knew about straights when my kids were little, my kisses wouldn't have been so irritating to them....
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- #40
Time for the 2 month report! I’m still learning, but no longer having to clean up with the cartridge razor. I learned an important lesson about dull razors. If you take a good pass, remove the lather, and whiskers remain, check your razor! Don’t try to push through or you’ll regret it. At least I did.
for the most part, I toned down the playing with all kinds of different razors to focus on technique and learning one. I have still bounced around a little, but am finding I get better shaves with extra hollow blades. The Grelot I have actually rings like a bell while stropping and gives about the best shave. My gut tell me to get proficient with the one that is working for me (yes, they’ll all work, but at the moment that one fits my skill level best). I think it will be a fun time learning the tricks to each one in the drawer and help keep the “newness” factor for a long time.
unfortunately, I tried XTG with the dull razor. I need to regain a little confidence and start trying again with a good sharp one.
i have improved my honing ability, but am still not great. One razor will turn out amazing and the next won’t. Probably just need more practice.
for the most part, I toned down the playing with all kinds of different razors to focus on technique and learning one. I have still bounced around a little, but am finding I get better shaves with extra hollow blades. The Grelot I have actually rings like a bell while stropping and gives about the best shave. My gut tell me to get proficient with the one that is working for me (yes, they’ll all work, but at the moment that one fits my skill level best). I think it will be a fun time learning the tricks to each one in the drawer and help keep the “newness” factor for a long time.
unfortunately, I tried XTG with the dull razor. I need to regain a little confidence and start trying again with a good sharp one.
i have improved my honing ability, but am still not great. One razor will turn out amazing and the next won’t. Probably just need more practice.
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